Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary
Protocols of the Elders of Zion- Definition

Protocols of the Elders of Zion - Document forged by the Czarist secret police, in order to incite violence against Jews in Russia, about between 1890s and 1903. It is based on an1864 French satire by Maurice Joly, directed at of the Emperor Napoleon III. The Protocols are alleged minutes of a meeting at which non-existent leaders of the World Jewish Conspiracy ("Elders of Zion") planned to take over the world. The Protocols were published by US industrialist Henry Ford and publicized in a series of articles in the 1920s  in his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, occasioning a lawsuit. Ford lost the suit and admitted he was wrong:

"To my great regret I learn that in the Dearborn Independent and in reprint pamphlets entitled, 'THE INTERNATIONAL JEW', there have appeared articles which induce the Jews to regard me as their enemy, promoting anti-Semitism.

"As a result of this survey I am deeply mortified that this journal, which is intended to be constructive and not destructive, has been made the medium for resurrecting exploded fictions, for giving currency to the so-called Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion, which have been demonstrated, as I learn, to be gross forgeries, and for contending that the Jews have been engaged in a conspiracy to control the capital and the industries of the world, besides laying at their door many offences against decency, public order and good morals...I deem it to be my duty as an honourable man to make amends for the wrong done to the Jews as fellow men and brothers, by asking their forgiveness for the harm which I have unintentionally committed, by retracting, as far as lies within my power the offensive charges laid at their door by these publications, and by giving them the unqualified assurance that henceforth they may look to me for friendship and good will...

"Had I appreciated even the general nature to say nothing of the details of these utterances, I would have forbidden their circulation without a moment's hesitation...This statement is made on my own initiative and wholly in the interest of right and justice, and is in accordance with what I regard as my solemn duty as a man and as a citizen."

 Nonetheless, the Protocols are still published as if they were true, particularly in the Arab world, where many regard them as factual. "Anti-Zionists," as they style themselves, often insist that the Protocols are the resolutions of the First Zionist Congress in Basle.  Adolf Hitler made frequent and famous use of the "International Jewry" and "International Finance Jewry" in his harangues. 

Synonyms and alternate spellings:

Further Information:  Jews  Wikipedia - Protocols of the Elders of Zion Christian Action: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion  (quotes Ford's repudiation)  The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Anti-Semitic Conspiracism The Protocols of the Elders of Zion among Palestinians.

Hebrew/Arabic pronunciation and transliteration conventions:

'H - ('het) a guttural sound made deep in the throat. To Western ears it may sound like the "ch" in loch. In Arabic there are several letters that have similar sounds. Examples: 'hanukah, 'hamas, 'haredi. Formerly, this sound was often represented by ch, especially in German transliterations of Hebrew. Thus, 'hanukah is often rendered as Chanuka for example.

ch - (chaf) a sound like "ch" in loch or the Russian Kh as in Khruschev or German Ach, made by putting the tongue against the roof of the mouth. In Hebrew, a chaf can never occur at the beginning of a word. At the beginning of a word, it has a dot in it and is pronounced "Kaf."

u - usually between oo as in spoon and u as in put.

a- sounded like a in arm

ah- used to represent an a sound made by the letter hey at the end of a word. It is the same sound as a. Haganah and Hagana are alternative acceptable transliterations.

'a-notation used for Hebrew and Arabic ayin, a guttural ah sound.

o - close to the French o as in homme.

th - (taf without a dot) - Th was formerly used to transliterate the Hebrew taf sound for taf without a dot. However in modern Hebrew there is no detectable difference in standard pronunciation of taf with or without a dot, and therefore Histadruth and Histadrut, Rehovoth and Rehovot are all acceptable.

q- (quf) - In transliteration of Hebrew and Arabic, it is best to consistently use the letter q for the quf, to avoid confusion with similar sounding words that might be spelled with a kaf, which should be transliterated as K. Thus, Hatiqva is preferable to Hatikva for example.

Definitions of Zionism  General History of Zionism and the Creation of Israel   History of Israel and Zionism   Historical Source Documents of Israel and Zionism

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Copyright

This work and individual entries are copyright © 2005 by Ami Isseroff and Zionism and Israel Information Center and may not reproduced in any form without permission unless explicitly noted otherwise. Individual entries may be cited with credit to The Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Zionism and Israel